


shock

by moonlitceleste



Series: Maribat Platonic November 2020 [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Idk it doesn't feel angsty to me, angsty ish?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:12:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27464728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlitceleste/pseuds/moonlitceleste
Summary: Maribat Platonic November Day 3 - ShockShock: a sudden upsetting or surprising event or experience.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tim Drake
Series: Maribat Platonic November 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2006653
Comments: 2
Kudos: 61





	shock

When the bullet struck, it was a shock.

One moment Marinette was ducking for cover, and the next she felt a blinding pain she didn’t expect.

It was a shock to her, and to him, because there was no way it could end like this—someone seemingly invincible going out from a bullet. And yet it did.

No one had seen it coming; perhaps that’s why it hurt the most.

-

Just hours before, Marinette had been laughing in Wayne Manor with her best friend, talking about her ideas for a winter collection. Now she lay on the ground in a pool of blood.

Tim darted around frantically, trying to find something,  _ anything _ he could use to save her, but the room was bare and there was no way out.

From her spot on the floor, Marinette could see him flit worriedly like a mother hen— _ or a duck, _ her brain supplied. It was good to know that despite having a hole in her abdomen, she was able to come up with a decent pun. Dick and Adrien would be proud if they heard it.

Her wound  _ pulsed _ , sending waves of agony down her body. She wheezed out a laugh.

“It’s too late for me, Tim.”

The vigilante stopped his pacing to whip his head towards her. His features twisted into anguish, words tinged with hysterics.

“Don’t you  _ dare  _ say that. I can still save you. I-I’ll find a way.”

His words seemed to be more for himself than for her.

“It’s hopeless, Tim. There’s no way to save me.”

She let the words sink in.

“It’s not your fault.”

Tim exploded in a mixture of rage and disbelief.

“Is that it, then? You’re just going to give up?”

Unshed tears in his eyes threatened to fall.

“I’m not  _ giving up _ ,” Marinette said softly, trying to conserve energy even though she knew it was futile. “I just know this isn’t worth you stressing over.”

That was the wrong thing to say, apparently.

“Not  _ worth it? _ Is that what you really think? That I just don’t care about you?”

His voice cracked on the last words, and they echoed around the room.

“Of course not,” she responded.

He turned away from her, and she watched his reaction, hurt. The pain in her side was agony, but fighting with Tim was worse. She could make out the frown beneath his domino mask and see him struggle between staying frustrated and rushing to her side.

In the end she made the decision for him.

“Can you please come here?”

Tim immediately turned around, almost as if he had been waiting for the question. His feet walked in her direction before stopping at her side. Once he sat down, she motioned him closer, and closer still.

Her arms strained to reach up and peel the domino mask off his face, but even with her shaky hands she managed to do so. Tim’s brow was furrowed in confusion.

“I wanted to see your face,” she explained.

He looked at her, and with his mask off she could see the full extent of the desperation in his blue eyes.

“You can’t die. You’re not going to die.”

The declaration was loud within the small room, but his voice wavered at the end.

Marinette gave him an affectionate smile in lieu of a response, hoping he couldn’t see the pain hidden in the depths.

Rather than look her in the eyes, he grabbed her hand to run circles over her palm. Perhaps if he didn’t think about the pool of growing red beneath her, if he ignored her heavy breathing and pale skin, it would all simply disappear.

He didn’t want to say goodbye.

He couldn’t say goodbye. 

-

Marinette lay in comfortable silence, eyes closed as Tim stroked her hair.

She had gasped in shock minutes before when Tim moved behind her and pulled her head into his lap, but he was careful not to disturb her injury.

It reminded her of those late nights spent near the fireplace, just relaxing together. It made her feel safe. It almost made her forget she was dying.

-

“Do you remember those macarons we made last week?”

The words were a shock in the silence.

“Yeah,” Tim responded.

Words stuck in his throat. He couldn’t think of anything to say. He hoped she wouldn’t take his words—or his lack of words—the wrong way.

Marinette shifted in his lap, tilting her head up to meet his eyes.

“I feel sleepy. I want coffee.”

The words were quiet, rasped out. Despite the situation, he cracked a small smile.

“Now?”

“Of course.”

Tim sighed, looking at her in endearment. 

“Only you would be thinking of coffee at a time like this.”

She hummed in response, letting their conversation fall into silence once more. He concentrated on running his fingers through her hair, on trying to hold the tears back.

“Tim?” she called weakly.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Emotion hit him like a freight train. His fingers stopped moving, trembling as tears burned his eyes, choking him up. He closed his eyes, not wanting Marinette to see him like this. It wasn’t as if she’d never said those eight letters to him before, but they were all the more painful now.

It was almost funny, in a morbid way, how she was the one with a hole in her body, yet he was the one who was more hurt.

“Stay with me?”

Her voice was softer now, the words whispered through barely-moving lips. His heart broke again.

“Always.”

Perhaps when she took her last breath, it shouldn’t have come as a shock.


End file.
